Thank you for posting a thread in Stephen Hawking's memory. What a remarkable man, with an amazing mind. By all accounts, he also had a great sense of humor.

Here's a quote from Stephen:

“I thought Eddie Redmayne portrayed me very well in ‘The Theory of Everything’ movie. He spent time with ALS sufferers so he could be authentic,” Hawking said in a post on Facebook. “At times, I thought he was me. Seeing the film has given me the opportunity to reflect on my life.

Although I’m severely disabled, I have been successful in my scientific work. I travel widely and have been to Antarctica and Easter Island, down in a submarine and up on a zero-gravity flight. One day I hope to go into space.

I’ve been privileged to gain some understanding of the way the universe operates through my work. But it would be an empty universe indeed without the people that I love.”

May he rest in peace.

Love & Light,

Rose

Mom to Jon, 49, (seizure disorder; Gtube; trache; colostomy; osteoporosis; hypothyroid; enlarged prostate; lymphedema, assorted mysteries) and Michael, 32, (intractable seizures; Gtube), who were born with an undiagnosed progressive neuromuscular disease and courageous spirits. Our Angel Michael received his wings in 2003 and now resides in Heaven. Our Angel Jon lives at home with me and Jim, the world's most wonderful Dad.

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So sad to know he died. I watched a bunch of specials he narrated on science channel using his adaptive speech equipment. I firmly believe Hawking lived as long as he did because he was so highly loved and respected. Thank you Hawking for teaching us the beauty of science and the value of living fully with a disability. I'm also really glad to know Hawking thought "The Theory Of Everything" was an accurate portrayal of himself and of ALS since I often hear some people in the disability community try to complain about even that movie's disability portrayal when they don't even have ALS. Since Hawking has ALS HIS opinion holds more weight for me than the opinions of random bloggers etc. Rest In Peace fellow science lover!
Funny story, I have had a couple people ask if Hawking has Cerebral Palsy when I tell them I have CP.

I'm not sure I agree that the image showing Stephen Hawking walking away from his wheelchair and presumably into a better world where he doesn't need it is "ableist." Is it "ableist" to imply that a wheelchair is something nobody wants to have to use? Isn't it a fact that Stephen Hawking wasn't thrilled to realize he had to use a wheelchair and that he'd have preferred not to need it?

I think some of the "ableist" critics are taking their viewpoint farther than necessary to make their case, which is a good one: that the deck is stacked in favor of the ablebodied and that those with disabilities have a very uphill fight just to get fair treatment in most situations.

I understand that some disabled people have been unhappy about the attention given to Stephen Hawking because he survived so long with ALS probably because he had so many advantages as a mathematical genius in a privileged world. The rest of us aren't so lucky, to be sure, but at least he's shown what can be done and has pointed the way for others who might get similarly lucky--or the technology that helped him might become more available to others. We can hope anyway.

I'm not sure I agree that the image showing Stephen Hawking walking away from his wheelchair and presumably into a better world where he doesn't need it is "ableist." Is it "ableist" to imply that a wheelchair is something nobody wants to have to use? Isn't it a fact that Stephen Hawking wasn't thrilled to realize he had to use a wheelchair and that he'd have preferred not to need it?

I think some of the "ableist" critics are taking their viewpoint farther than necessary to make their case, which is a good one: that the deck is stacked in favor of the ablebodied and that those with disabilities have a very uphill fight just to get fair treatment in most situations.

I understand that some disabled people have been unhappy about the attention given to Stephen Hawking because he survived so long with ALS probably because he had so many advantages as a mathematical genius in a privileged world. The rest of us aren't so lucky, to be sure, but at least he's shown what can be done and has pointed the way for others who might get similarly lucky--or the technology that helped him might become more available to others. We can hope anyway.

Thank you! I completely agree! Most disabled people I know especially the ones not born disabled would prefer not to be disabled but there is this section of disability activists who don't want to acknowledge that which kind of defeats a lot of their arguments. I think that is not right and frankly dangerous for anyone to assume a disabled person would rather die than be disabled. However nobody should assume we all absolutely love our disabilities either. I think the term "ableist" gets so misused these days and I am frankly so sick of it! If I want to complain about my Cerebral Palsy or my heart exams and say they suck I should not be accused of being ableist. I heard quotes from Hawking saying he loved his life with his family and also that he said "In my mind I am free". To me this says to me he felt trapped by a malfunctioning body at times but embraced life to the fullest regardless which is a more realistic view. If we acknowledge that disability is difficult we can find ways of making disability less difficult through accessibility.

Certainly, Stephen didn't choose death over disability, as he lived an incredible life for a very long time, with a debilitating disease.

I agree that the ableist zealousness can be off putting in many ways and goes to extremes at times.

I read an article critical of the film, "The Shape of Water," because the female character, who is hearing impaired, falls in love with an amphibian creature, who "understands and accepts" her. The complaint was that the film portrays this woman as being unwanted by anyone or thing other than this creature and demeans her value as a person.

This is absurd to me! The film is a fantasy, a sci fi, with no basis in reality!

I don't know why we have to have controversy swirling around everything, which defeats our goal as you said. We want people to see us as people (I speak for my children here) and not our condition or disease.

I do believe in the afterlife, and I was moved by the drawing, because I saw Stephen leaving his physical presence and entering his spiritual presence in Bliss. Like all of us, when we die, he was free of his physical body.

We shall never forget you Stephen and all that we learned from you.

Love & Light,

Rose

Mom to Jon, 49, (seizure disorder; Gtube; trache; colostomy; osteoporosis; hypothyroid; enlarged prostate; lymphedema, assorted mysteries) and Michael, 32, (intractable seizures; Gtube), who were born with an undiagnosed progressive neuromuscular disease and courageous spirits. Our Angel Michael received his wings in 2003 and now resides in Heaven. Our Angel Jon lives at home with me and Jim, the world's most wonderful Dad.

Certainly, Stephen didn't choose death over disability, as he lived an incredible life for a very long time, with a debilitating disease.

I agree that the ableist zealousness can be off putting in many ways and goes to extremes at times.

I read an article critical of the film, "The Shape of Water," because the female character, who is hearing impaired, falls in love with an amphibian creature, who "understands and accepts" her. The complaint was that the film portrays this woman as being unwanted by anyone or thing other than this creature and demeans her value as a person.

This is absurd to me! The film is a fantasy, a sci fi, with no basis in reality!

I don't know why we have to have controversy swirling around everything, which defeats our goal as you said. We want people to see us as people (I speak for my children here) and not our condition or disease.

I do believe in the afterlife, and I was moved by the drawing, because I saw Stephen leaving his physical presence and entering his spiritual presence in Bliss. Like all of us, when we die, he was free of his physical body.

We shall never forget you Stephen and all that we learned from you.

Love & Light,

Rose

Thanks Rose! Exactly! The overuse of "ableist!" is a huge turn off to me! I saw that same review of "The Shape Of Water" and I was like "What???!" I never saw the movie but it seemed like the reviewer read way too much into the story like she was forcing herself to see ableism where there was none. I saw a similar review of "The Little Mermaid" suggesting Ariel is a comment on disability given she can't talk for part of the movie. I never, ever saw "The Little Mermaid" as having anything to do with disability as the characters abilities and bodies are the result of a magical world which does not follow earthly logic or reality. Not that disabled characters can't exist in movies or shows where characters use magic, but a truly disabled character in a fantasy book has an entirely different vibe than "Little Mermaid" in my view. There was one reviewer who even suggested the character Lilo from the movie Lilo & Stitch had a disability. Lilo never did.
I also believe in an afterlife personally. I hope Stephen is at peace wherever he is now.

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